Saving Agia Sophia, Istanbul

The last time I visited Istanbul was two years ago. The city constitutes a huge histori-cal monument appreciated even by those unfamiliar with history. I was really wel-come and treated as if I were a celebrity. People were very friendly and hospitable a fact rather inconsistent with turbulent Greek-Turkish history.

Yet, one thing tarred my visit. That is the lot of Agia Sophia, probably the most his-torical Christian monument in the world. At a time when there is an urgent need for the inauguration of an inter-cultural and inter-civilisational dialogue, the lot of the church and the way it has been used, is an obstacle to the desired inter-religious un-derstanding.

Prime Minister T. Erdogan has a golden opportunity to send a deafening message to the world and those who light-heartedly talk about a clash of civilizations. The resto-ration of Agia Sophia is the best way for a Muslim country to show everyone that all the world needs is a better understanding, a way of accepting our differences.

That is the only way for peaceful coexistence and the best means to illustrate extrem-ists that what the Muslim world demands is respect. It will be an answer to those across the Christian world who have failed to treat Muslims with decency and at-tempted to export our western values by means of violence.